Bloomfield Amateur Radio Emergency Net & Service
(BARENS)

Net Control Operator/Station Guide
Revised December 2015

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The Net Manager assigns Net Control Operators. Please start the net promptly. If the assigned Net Control Operator has not started the net, any member familiar with this guide should take the initiative and act as Net Control Operator and call the net.

When the assigned Net Control Operator knows he or she cannot start the net, the Net Manager should be notified ahead of time so that an alternate can be assigned. As Net Control Operator, you should ALWAYS maintain control while the net is in session. You decide whose turn it is to talk, and tell each checked in operator when to go ahead. If an operator talks out of turn, you should ask that operator to stand by and then give the go ahead to the operator actually due to transmit. Always use your authority with courtesy. Show firmness when necessary, conducting yourself in a “professional” manner.

Maintain CALM & INTELLIGENT control over the net. Be patient when a person is speaking. Use good judgment in curtailing discussions that drag on or get too far off track. Net discussions should proceed as long as is necessary. Casual conversation can continue after the net is closed and the repeater is turned over for regular use.

STANDARD START-UP
OF THE REGULAR NET SESSION

(1) “Calling the BARENS Net, calling the BARENS Net; calling the Bloomfield Amateur Radio Emergency Net & Service. This is Net Control Operator (your name, call sign).
This is a directed net, which meets at 7:00 p.m. local time every Tuesday, except for the 3rd Tuesday of each month. “

“On each 3rd Tuesday, we meet at 7:00 p.m. at the Bloomfield Town Hall. We are using our W1CWA repeater on 146.82 Mhz. The purpose of this meeting is public service emergency preparedness, primarily for the North Central Connecticut area.“

(2) “Check-ins are asked to key your microphone momentarily. Then listen to make sure you are not doubling with another station trying to check in. Check-ins for the net please call now, giving your call sign, name, town and whether or not you are using emergency power or commercial power. This is (your call sign), Net Control Operator.“

(3) Listen for check-ins. Write them down in the order they check in, using a standard net log sheet, listing your call at the top of the list.

(4) After the first group of check-ins has called in, acknowledge each station by repeating their call signs clearly. Next, ask for additional check-ins, writing them down and acknowledging them.

(5) After receiving the first check-ins, call for liaison stations, by saying, “Are there any liaison stations, or stations from outlying areas ? Please call now.” Add to your list any liaison stations as check-ins, and make a note in the COMMENTS column of what town they are calling from.

PROTOCOL FOR NET IN FULL SESSION

(1) With the net in full session, if there are any mobile stations checked in, ask them to come first with any business or comments. Then go down the remaining list of check-ins asking for any business or comments. Give each check-in a turn to state their business and comments.

(2) After each check-in has their turn(s), ask: “Is there any final business for the net before we close ? Are there any final check-ins for the net ?” Write them down, if there are any, and offer them a turn to state any business or comments for the net.

(3) Before closing the net, ask “Are there any additional comments before we close the net ?”

(4) As soon as net business is finished, close the net with “Thank for checking in and giving your comments. This has been a regular session of the Bloomfield Amateur Radio Emergency Net & Service. The net is now closed and the repeater returned to regular use. This is (your call sign, Net Control Operator. Goodnight.”

This year we claim a few fewer points, 388, with much of our team away, but we again enjoyed Talcott Mountain State Park, 900+ ft ASL overlooking the beautiful Farmington Valley in Central CT! We did 51 CW QSOs and 92 on phone.

We also used a new logging software, the excellent open-source Cloudlog (available for free on Github). For a server we ran a Beaglebone Black Rev. C, and we had several Raspberry Pi’s as clients.

Next year, we may develop our own Web API, and use SSB (single-site browsing) to log a little more efficiently, but again use the web over a local intranet set up on site for FD.

The pavilion we use is right near the historic Heublein Tower – it’s a site that gives us great coast-coast opportunities even with the pile-ups FD brings!

A Growing Club

Over the last few years, BARC has grown, the repeater has moved to its new home and now provides enhanced communication ability throughout north-central Connecticut, our monthly VE sessions have provided many opportunities for new hams to become licensed, and our presence at Farmers’ Markets have demonstrated ham radio capabilities to those unfamiliar with the service.

Our ARES BARENS team has supported our local emergency responders, our weekly Net draws participants from across the region, and our Field Days have become a popular event for our our own members, the media, and members of the public.

The future looks bright indeed – and we look forward to your joining our club and joining the international fraternity of amateur radio for a lifetime of discovery.

Congratulations to the new officers for 2014: Bob, KB1YNT (Treasurer), Dan, KB1WFF (President), Josh, AC1N (Emergency Coordinator), Mark, K1MGM (Vice-President), and Bill, AB1LZ (Secretary). They will take their posts starting in December 2013.

George Lillenstein, our Region III DEC has asked the various towns to conduct a weekly simplex net. Michael N1EN has suggested we start out monthly or so doing simplex after our regular repeater net.

I would like to start up a simplex net this Tuesday after the regular net, as I am net control. It would be helpful to get the information out to the members in advance so that they can prepare with the “bigger guns”, instead of just HTs for the net.

Could you please announce this as a test week for a simplex net, following the regular net?

I would like to start out using ARES Simplex Delta (146.460) for the net this week, possibly changing in the future, as warranted.